Dragon Heartstring
by Jezzabelle
Summary: When Ember Cree transfers to Hogwarts, she is ostracised for being different and being the enemy of Ginny Weasley's best friend. But Ginny ends up feeling curious about dark Ember, and puts her popularity on the line for the chance to be different. GWOC
1. Lady Cree

Note: This is not the sequel to Fallen from Grace. That one's coming, I swear it. It'll be up as soon as I feel like writing the last couple of chapters.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Ember and anything else you don't recognize.

Warning: This contains femmeslash so if you are opposed to this in any way, my advice is to press the back button on your browser now. If you do not heed this warning, you cannot hold me responsible for any tainting of your delicate mind that may occur. Ergo, please don't flame me just because you aren't into the idea of slash. Nobody's forcing you to read this.

-----

In a brightly lit room with various pictures hanging from the walls, Ember Cree lay on her stomach on the padded table, cringing. She was a very attractive seventeen-year-old, with short black hair with a forest green side-fringe, pale skin and eyes that were deep purple with silver flecks. Every so often she would let out a tiny whimper - her flesh was being cut up.

"You sure you're okay with this?" the man tearing into her asked.

"Yeah, sure. Just hurts a bit. Totally worth it, though," Ember said encouragingly. The man smiled at her and moved his wand down again to give her the tattoo that she wanted. She was at a magical tattoo parlour, the difference between magical and non-magical being that magical tattoos moved. While it was extremely common for painted pictures to move, it was incredibly difficult to learn to make tattoos move, so there were only a few parlours in the world that did it, and they were very expensive.

Ember could well afford it though. Her parents were rich, but Ember preferred to be self-dependent – she worked at a muggle book store and had been putting in many extra hours lately to amass the money she needed for her new tattoo. She already had a rose on her left upper arm and two Celtic-style crucifixes on the insides of her wrists, the rose which grew, blossomed and died over twenty-four hours, and the crucifixes unmoving, done by a muggle tattooist. Now, the man with the wand was just putting the finishing touches on the huge purple dragon that was splayed across her back, the head breathing fire at her shoulder blade and the tail twisting around on her left buttock. Once the design had been completely etched into her skin, he tapped it once with his wand and it started to move. The fire periodically flew from the dragon's nose, the wings flapped, and the tail writhed around wildly. Ember covered her breasts with her arms and stood up, looking behind her into a mirror to see the man's handiwork.

"Oh, it's just beautiful, Hector," she said to the man, who simply smiled in return. She lowered part of her black short shorts to admire the end of the tail. "It looks so lifelike, you'd think I had a dragon of my own and it was following me about."

"I am paid to be good, my Lady Cree," he said in a stilted tone. She laughed. "Do you want to test it with your wings, to see if it all fits right?"

"Sure, don't see why not," Ember replied, and two huge, purple bat-like wings sprouted from her shoulder blades. This was a trait she had received from her father – he had received a dragon's blood transfusion before she was conceived, and he had several powers that were not natural to regular wizards. She, however, just received the wings. Having them in her back hurt her, but she feared ostracizing from the people she knew, so only outstretched them when at home or with Hector – she had known Hector for years, and so trusted him with her wings.

"That's lovely," he said. "I did have your wings in mind when I did the dragon, Lady. But I daresay the dragon doesn't measure up to your beauty by half."

"Don't be humble," she said, facing away from him to put her top back on, a black tank. "You and I both know you're the best in the world."

"Well, it's only competition between me, Takamishi in Japan, and Derevnikov in Russia," Hector said, putting his wand away. "And just between you and me, Derevnikov is a hack."

Ember laughed and paid him before walking outside into the warm Australian sun. Even though her back ached, she decided not to apparate home but to walk. _It's such a lovely day,_ Ember reasoned. She felt differently after about two minutes of walking.

"This is awful!" She cried to no one. "I hate walking! I hate legs!" And with that, she apparated home. When she got there, she saw her mother having a cup of tea on the couch. This was the moment when she realised something was severely wrong. Her mother only ever had tea when under emotional stress. "What's wrong, mum?" Ember said, sitting next to her mother, who seemed not to notice her daughter's presence. Ember's father came into the living room and sat in the couch adjacent to theirs. His purple wings were constantly out, unless he said the complex spell which forced them into his back for a temporary amount of time. He smiled at Ember, showing pointed teeth. Her mother sipped her tea.

"It's cold," she said absently. Ember's father leant forward.

"I'll get it," he said, blowing a stream of fire gently towards the mug. It steamed instantly. This seemed to shock Ember's mother enough that she was back in the land of the living.

"Thank you, dear," she said. "Don't you want to tell Ember something?"

"Er… yes," he said, and turned to his daughter, who gave him an enquiring stare. "You see, Emmy-Bear," he said, using her pet-name he hadn't used in years, "today I got an owl from some people in England. Apparently, they're in a bit of trouble with a man who calls himself Voldemort, and they think… that my powers could come in useful. So we're moving there."

"When you say 'we'," she said softly, "Do you mean you and mum?"

"No, darling, all three of us," her father said tentatively.

"So you mean you, mum, and that couch? Because there's no way I'm going to England."

"Ember!" Her mother said sharply. "You know full well what your father means. And you _are_ going to England with us, you can do your last school year there."

"But they have different school years to us," Ember said triumphantly. "I can't just go there halfway through their year when I'm on summer holidays."

"We're leaving tomorrow, before your sixth year ends. We will get there a few days before you leave for Hogwarts," her mother said. "That's the name of the school. Now pack your things, we're leaving the day after tomorrow."

-----

Ember scowled. Her parents had waved her off teary-eyed on the platform, but she had only pretended to be emotional. She was still angry at them for making her go halfway around the world. Hardest was saying goodbye to her friends – they could scarcely believe it when she told them she was leaving. Chucking her trunk in the baggage car, she scowled again. _Well,_ she thought, _I'd better make some stupid friends in this stupid place. _She looked down at herself. She was wearing her regular black tank top and a pair of loose black jeans with a studded belt. _Could be worse_, she thought to herself as she swept her green fringe out of her face.

-----

Seventh-year Ginny Weasley sat with her friends in a carriage, gossiping. In all the years she had been friends with them, she had loved girlishly talking about boys, clothes, and music. She loved being a part of the ditzy Gryffindor group of four girls who were the most popular girls in school. Now, their inane chatter hurt her ears.

"How cute was Harry Potter?" Said one girl.

"Alicia! You can't say that!" cried another of Ginny's friends. "Ginny well used to go out with him and that!"

"I can say what I want, Phoebe," Alicia retorted with a smile. "So Ginny, how good was he at kissing?"

"I'm not going to tell you guys that!" Ginny giggled behind her hand, plastering fake enthusiasm on her face.

"I think she's saying we have to find out for ourselves," said the last girl, with an Australian accent.

"Steph! That is so _not_ what I am saying at all!" Ginny cried, giving her a friendly slap on the arm. "Do that and I'll give you a right punching."

"Alright, don't get so defensive!" Steph said, holding her hands up.

"Ooh, you know what, girls," said Alicia suddenly. "I heard there's a new girl in our year. From _Australia._"

Phoebe, Alicia and Ginny looked at Steph. "What?" She cried. "Just because I'm Australian doesn't mean I automatically know her!"

Suddenly, the carriage door opened to reveal Ember. She apologized and was about to leave when she saw Steph, who groaned. "I stand corrected. Ember," she said.

"Stephanie," Ember replied. The two gave each other icy stares for a moment or two before Steph blinked.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Steph said suddenly.

"Just standing here, obviously," Ember said frostily. "I wasn't aware you went to Hogwarts."

"I do," said Steph. "Why are you still here?"

"Just asking myself the same question," Ember said coldly, and slammed the door shut. She traveled the rest of the trip in a carriage alone, fuming. _Of all the schools in the world, she just has to go to this one. Bitch. _Ember and Steph had loathed each other since the day they locked eyes over a crowded classroom seven years before. It was the happiest day of Ember's life when Steph moved away. She never thought she would have to see her again.

-----

Ember stood alone in the corner of the Great Hall, bare moments after the last first-year had been sorted. She felt incredibly self-conscious about herself standing alone, but then the attention was drawn from her to the front of the Hall when a woman stood and spoke. Her hair was in a tight bun and her mouth was barely a line on her face.

"Good evening, students," she said. "Now that the first-years have been sorted, I would like to introduce a seventh-year who will be joining us from Australia this year. Please make her feel welcome. Ember Cree, please come up and be sorted."

Ember felt her cheeks burn as she walked to the stool with the sorting hat on it and felt hundreds of eyes on her. She sat on the stool and slipped the hat onto her head. _I hope nobody had lice,_ she thought for a moment before the hat spoke in her mind.

"Lady Cree," it said, amusedly.

_You know full well I'm no 'Lady'. It's just what Hector calls me._ She thought to the hat.

"Yes, well, I can see much intelligence in you… quite a bit of bravery… loyalty… but also cunning. Where to put you?"

_I don't care where, just put me somewhere,_ she thought. _People are beginning to stare._

"One trait rises dominant over the others, however…" the hat continued, as if it hadn't heard her. "I think…

RAVENCLAW!"


	2. Ravenclaw

Note: I know that Luna Lovegood _should_ technically be in Ember's year and in her house, but before you get all mad at me for not sticking to canon, in this story Luna tragically passed away during the final battle.

-----

Ember smiled. _At least I'm not in Gryffindor_, she thought to herself as she glared over at Steph, sitting with her friends at the Gryffindor house table. _Idiots, _she said to herself. She walked over to the Gryffindor table, her large boots making a clunking noise against the stone floor. She cast her eyes over the table and saw only one spare seat – the one nearest her. She sat down on it quickly, smiled and said hello to the other occupants of the table, two athletic blonde girls.

"Hello," one replied hesitantly, but the other one simply cast her eyes about the room, clearing her throat. Ember could see that any further conversation would not be to her advantage and so she ate her dinner in silence. When the timetables were passed around, Ember swore loudly, making the two girls jump in their seats and stare at her.

"What?" one asked.

"Charms with Gryffindor," Ember said quietly, glaring at her timetable so fiercely it would not have been altogether surprising if she had burned a hole through it. The girl rolled her eyes.

-----

The next morning, Ember awoke not to the usual sound of kookaburras screaming at four in the morning, but to the squealing of a girl entering the shower to find that the water had not heated up at six. She had been thoroughly dismayed to find that the two girls she had eaten dinner with were the only Ravenclaw seventh-years, and so had retired early, hoping that the new day would bring some better luck than she had received on the first of September. It apparently did not, as Ember stepped out of bed to realise that she should have worn socks. The stone floor was icy cold, despite it being just the end of summer, and she leapt violently back onto her bed, pulling the covers over her freezing feet and whimpering quietly.

"Damn it!" she cried, using her wand to bring her trunk over and reaching in for the first pair of socks she could find. She slipped them onto her feet and chose an outfit for the day before dashing into the bathroom that one of her roommates had just left. She had a quick shower, not liking the ominous noises of the old castle's plumbing, and dressed, admiring herself in the mirror. She was wearing her tight black jeans under her big black boots featuring large buckles up the sides, and a black, low-cut sleeveless top with purple bats near the bottom. She pulled on a pair of green and black striped wool armwarmers and threw some parchment and quills in her black satchel before slinging it over her shoulder and walking downstairs to her first lesson of the year. As luck would have it, it was Charms.

"C435," she muttered to herself, wondering where on earth room C435 was. She fished around in her bag until she found what she was looking for – a map of the school. She found the Charms section.

"C430, 431, 432, 433… aha!" she cried, pointing at the map. "C435! Now, where am I…"

It was a good thing she had left her dormitory early, because she had such trouble navigating around the school that she got lost a few times and ended up in the Hospital Wing twice. Not for any injuries, mind you, just because that was where she happened to wander. Two minutes after the lesson was supposed to start, she burst into her Charms room with a huge grin on her face.

"Yes!" She cried, in a moment of pure triumph. "Who is the master? _I_ am the master!" She started an absurd little dance before realising that the entire class was staring at her, including the teacher, a tiny man who looked as though he was part-goblin. He was frozen in the act of waving his wand, and after a moment shook his head quickly and regained his senses.

"You must be the new student, Miss Ember Cree. Please take a seat; I was just demonstrating to the class the proper charm to make this teapot sing Christmas Carols," he said. "My name is Professor Flitwick."

Ember sat down, blushing profusely. She was just cursing herself for doing the absurd dance and yelling so loudly, when she realised someone was trying to get her attention. She looked up suddenly to find the tiny professor peering at her.

"Miss Cree?"

"Yes?" She said, faking alertness.

"I was just asking if you are enjoying Hogwarts, or if you prefer your old school better?"

"Oh," she asked, bewildered as to why he would be asking her that. "Well, Hogwarts is okay, it's a nice place, but I liked my old school and I didn't like leaving my friends behind."

Steph snorted. "Friends?" She said shrilly. "You didn't have any friends!" Now, this was a lie, and Ember knew that Steph was just trying to make sure that Ember didn't have any friends at Hogwarts. _I don't have any here now anyway,_ she said to herself.

"Like you'd know, you were too busy flirting with every guy in the school," Ember retorted, glaring daggers at Steph.

"Like you can talk, you whore!" Steph shrieked. "You're the one who stole my boyfriend in fifth year!"

Now, this was partly true. Jared Louis had been in the quidditch team and was dating Steph, but after his twin brother died in a freak broomstick accident he had quit the team and was never quite the same as he once was. He broke up with Steph and started to gravitate more towards the darkly attractive Ember, who returned his affections once she had ascertained that he was no longer the egotistical jerk who would hex her and her friends as a 'joke'.

"I'd barely said two words to him when he dumped you, Stephanie, which you would know if you spent more time actually paying attention to him and less time showing him off as some sort of accessory you could hang off your arm," Ember said, full of anger. She was incredibly angry at Steph for bringing Jared up – he had not been able to get over his twin's death and so had taken his own life barely four months later.

"Shut up, you stupid Goth!" Steph cried out. Ember laughed at her stupid retort, then opened her mouth to say something back but was interrupted by Flitwick.

"Girls, please!" He said, his tiny voice rising slightly. "We must get back to our Charms work! I'll have no talk like that!"

Ember shot Steph a final glare, then reluctantly turned to face the front of the room. She started to write some notes, but ended up doodling on her parchment. It was mostly pictures of Steph lying dead under a large, ornate throne where Ember was sitting, a crown on her head and a smile on her face.

After that Charms lesson, nobody even looked at Ember. Steph made sure of that. She glared at anyone who brought her up in a conversation and made sure anyone who asked her to pass an item in Potions or Herbology soon regretted it. Ember was surprised to find she didn't mind so much – it meant she was left alone, which meant that nobody picked on her. Except for Steph, that is. Steph would always have a cruel comment at the ready, but Ember didn't even mind that. She always had a good retort, some of which left Steph speechless. It seemed everybody in the school was hostile towards or avoiding Ember.

But Ember didn't know about what was going on in the mind of Ginny Weasley. From the first moment she had seen Ember on the train, she had been curious about her. She seemed to wield some power over Steph – Ginny had never seen Steph get this riled up about anyone before. She felt bad for Ember, going to classes and eating her meals alone. She liked Ember. However, she could never admit this to Steph – she would surely be ostracised and exiled from her group, just as Ember was. But there was a constant feeling nagging at her, one that wouldn't go away. She pondered it day and night, but knew that it was just like when she couldn't find a word to fit her sentence – it was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't find the answer.


	3. Faceful of Algorithm

Ember sighed. She was walking out of Ancient Runes, an ancient and complex mathematical equation comprised of the runes weighing heavily on her mind. She had attempted a translation of the runes in class but they were from an ancient, obscure dialect and she would need all afternoon and most of the night to get it properly translated. Then she could think about solving the equation. The other students had no problem translating the runes – they had been taught to do so the previous year. But at Ember's old school, they had not taught her this particular dialect and so she was at a loss. This was a time in which she would dearly have loved to have a friend, or at least an acquaintance at Hogwarts to give her a hand, but as her father always told her, we can't always get what we want all of the time. She was walking down the stone corridor, barely registering where she was going, and so she didn't notice the foot that stuck out, tripping her over. She lay sprawled on the ground, her bag spilling its contents relatively close on the ground. She sat on the ground, glaring at the one who had tripped her. It was, of course, Steph, surrounded by her gang of three other girls.

"Aren't you even going to get up?" Steph asked, tauntingly. Ember knew that Steph was looking for a fight, but she wasn't going to give her that. Ember could beat Steph easily, but she didn't want the trouble that came with fighting in school. Her old school had taught her that. Her parents had told her that if she was ever suspended for fighting again, they would revoke her allowance and make her resign from the bookstore where she worked. While she didn't have that job in England, she knew her parents would still be incredibly mad at her.

"Why bother? You look down on me metaphorically all the time, why should the physical sense be any different?" Ember said, knowing that even these basic words were too long for Steph to know. She was right.

"You know, an insult doesn't work properly if the person receiving it doesn't understand what the hell you're on about," Steph said slowly.

"I'm sorry, were the words too big for your tiny mind? If you'll excuse me, I have to translate an algorithm. Goodbye, you vapid bitch."

She picked up her bag after sweeping the items back into it, and walked away. She had barely gone a few paces when she heard hurried footsteps behind her. She decided to ignore them. _Probably Steph, just finished looking up the meaning of the word 'vapid'._ She figured, smiling to herself. But it wasn't. It was one of Steph's friends, the redhead girl.

"Hi," she said breathlessly.

"Oh, leave me alone," Ember said wearily. "I don't care what you have to say. Let's just assume you were a bitch and I was a bitch and we can leave it at that."

"No, that's not why I came –"

"Then did you just come to trip me over again? Because you know, just doing it once wasn't all that funny. I think that for true humour it has to be done twice," she said, coming to a standstill in the middle of the hallway. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"I didn't come to be nasty to you," said the redhead, and she actually looked like she meant it. She had an earnest look in her eyes which annoyed Ember. "I came to ask for… help, I guess."

"Then you can ask someone else. Won't your friend get mad at you for talking to me?"

"She's gone to class with Alicia and Phoebe," the redhead said, as Ember walked away. She followed her, falling into step next to her. "I want to be like you."

Ember was stunned, and stopped walking. "Why?" She asked blankly.

"You… you don't do things based on what Steph or Alicia or anyone will think of you. You don't take any crap from anyone. I admire you for that," she said. "I want to be like that."

"Well, you can stick your admiration and earnest look –" Ember started, but was cut off by the loud ringing of a bell. "Muggle studies. Gotta go. I'd say it was nice talking to you, but that would be a lie."

"Ember!" Cried the girl, as she watched the retreating back of the dark-haired girl. "My name's Ginny Weasley. I'll ask again later, shall I?"

Ember ignored her. She walked into Muggle Studies, trying to get her mind back on the Ancient Runes equation. She failed. The equation was clearly beyond her and she would need to spend some time in the library after class. She tried instead to focus on the teacher, Professor Worth. He was holding up a tiny mobile phone.

"Class, this is what Muggles use instead of something like Head-Flooing or owling," he said, and with a tap of his wand a diagram of the device was on the blackboard behind him. "It works on _electricity_."

-----

Ember sat in the library, reading yet another book on Ancient Runes. She almost had the ancient dialect down, she just needed a few more symbols to translate the entire equation. Once the translation was complete, she smiled broadly.

"I am a _genius_," she said to herself. Then she stared at the equation. "This makes no sense!" And she was right. She had never seen any kind of algorithm like the one staring back at her. It was completely foreign to her. Then she double-checked the top of the page. _Translating Ancient Runes from the Middle Eastern area in the Uzbekistan-region dialect_. She stared at the title of the book she had been translating from. It was entitled _The Dialects of Ancient Kazakhstan._ She groaned and let her head drop to the table. It was no use. She would never pass Ancient Runes with a translation from the wrong region. She sighed, making condensation appear on the laminated cover of the book. She wiped it off with one arm and opened the book, laying her head on her arms and closing her eyes just for a moment. She awoke to the sound of a screeching and looked up to see the librarian.

"What are you doing to that book?" She cried. Ember sat up, her homework parchment sticking to her cheek. She pulled it off quickly. She felt very dozy and bleary-eyed.

"What's the time?"

"Eight a.m., Miss Cree! Have you been in here all night?"

"I… I guess so…" Ember said slowly. "Didn't you see me when you left?"

"Apparently not," Madam Pince said. "The candles were already burnt out over this side of the room, it was dark and I assumed everybody had left."

"Oh," Ember said. "I was supposed to translate…" She looked at her work and saw that it was smudged. _No matter, it was the wrong one anyway._ But it was smudged where she had been lying on it and knew that there was a backwards equation on her cheek. She scowled at her own stupidity.

"Out, girl! Out!" Cried the librarian. Ember knew there was only one thing to do. She gathered her things and stood proudly.

"If you will excuse me, I have an algorithm to wash off my face," she said, striding from the library.


	4. Bacon, mmm

Ember scrubbed her face, willing the ink to wash off easily. It didn't, and so she spent the next ten minutes using copious amounts of soap and water to get the equation off. She groaned once it had been removed – her entire cheek was red. She sighed.

"This is not my day," she groaned to herself, arranging her hair to cover her red cheek before going down to breakfast. Even sitting alone at the table didn't bother her that day, as the breakfast was bacon and eggs. Ember didn't much care for eggs, but she loved bacon and so piled her plate high and sat back in her seat, saying loudly "nyum, nyum, nyum," to the shock of the other Ravenclaws, who edged away slowly. Once she had finished, she put her plate back on the table, stood up noisily, and strode out of the Great Hall, to small giggles and murmurs from the rest of the table. She walked down to the lake without a care in the world, temporarily forgetting about the algorithm she still had to do. She sat underneath a tree and watched the small ripples in the lake, blurring the almost perfect mirror image of the other side. She was just about to start dozing when someone sat down next to her.

"Hey, Ember," it was Ginny Weasley.

"Oh, what now?" Ember said testily.

"I wanted to repeat my request from yesterday," she said brightly. "I want tuition on how to be… like you, I guess. That thing with the bacon this morning? Brilliant. You didn't even care what anyone else thought."

"What thing with the bacon?"

"The way you were eating it and making strange noises."

"I was?"

"Yes."

"Oh," Ember said, slightly puzzled. "That's just the way I normally eat my bacon."

"See?" Ginny said, a little desperately. "This is what I want. To do whatever comes naturally without worrying about what other people will think of me."

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Ember asked wearily.

"No," replied Ginny with a smile.

"Fine. Come up to my dormitory. I have a free now anyway."

"I have to go to class," Ginny said. Ember sighed.

"Don't go to class," she tried to make it sound like their first lesson was that Ginny shouldn't go to class, but she just didn't want to have to do it at a time which would be less convenient for her. "Come on."

"Well, okay, if you think it'll help," Ginny said, following Ember up towards the Ravenclaw section of the castle. "I've never been here before," Ginny said in wonder. Ember smiled politely, feeling like if she were to speak she would shout at Ginny for being so irritating. They came to a tapestry of a beautiful woman riding a Pegasus through the night sky. Ember pulled aside the tapestry to reveal a stone wall, hard and unyielding.

"Peppermint Ice Lolly," Ember said to the wall, and it melted away. The woman riding the Pegasus sighed.

"That's what I get for letting first-years decide the new password," she said, and Ginny laughed and followed Ember through the new doorway where the tapestry hung. She followed Ember up to the seventh-year girls' dormitory and watched as Ember threw her bag unceremoniously into the corner and gasped when a set of huge purple wings erupted from her back.

"What on earth?" She cried.

"Oh, shut your mouth, you're letting the flies in," Ember said scathingly, and Ginny quickly stopped gaping. "It's been hurting me since yesterday, I had to let them out."

"It hurts you to have them in?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"No need to be so mean, I was just concerned, is all," Ginny said, pouting. Ember sighed.

"We have to find somewhere better than this if we're going to do stuff. You probably don't want your _friends_ to know you're talking to me and the other girls won't always be away from here," Ember reasoned. Ginny nodded.

"What do you sugg- hey!" She cried, as Ember picked her up and zoomed out the window. "What are you doing? You'll drop me!"

"No I won't," Ember muttered, and Ginny had no choice but to believe her, so she wrapped her arms tightly around the other girl's waist and tried not to look down. After flying around for a minute or so, Ginny felt them touch down onto land, and Ember dropped her unceremoniously. She didn't mind, though, being so pleased to get back onto solid ground. After lying on the ground a moment, she stood and stared at her surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"Forbidden Forest," Ember said shortly. They were in a large clearing with a lake on one side. The ground was covered in soft, green grass.

"But it's forbidden!" Cried Ginny.

"Lesson One: 'Forbidden' really means 'Go for it'," Ember said with a smile, and she waved her wand. For a moment, the sky and the trees around them glowed bright silver, as if they were in a huge, silver dome. Then it faded.

"What was that?" Ginny asked, standing up and brushing the grass off her clothes.

"Force field. We can't have any nasty creatures getting in while we're doing our stuff, the top will keep the rain out, but we can still get through it from the top if we're flying. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Ginny said, "But where did you learn that?"

"I'm a Ravenclaw," she said. "We know things you don't. We take the initiative and learn spells that will actually be useful. I never heard of anyone getting anything important done by making a teapot sing Christmas Carols."

Ginny laughed. Ember was right. And Ginny could see that Ember would be right about a lot of things. She was fiercely intelligent.

"That's Lesson Two," Ember said, turning to smile crookedly at Ginny. "Know things. The more you know, the less you will feel as though you have to follow the crowd."

Ginny smiled. This was going to be fun.


	5. Go Go Gadget Goth

Ember shot into the air suddenly and zoomed away, leaving Ginny in the clearing by herself. _God, where's she gone?_ She wondered fearfully. She sighed. If nothing else, it gave Ginny time to explore the clearing and note the boundaries of the force field. She walked over to the lake and peered into the depths. It was crystal clear and she could see all the way down to the bottom, which was comprised of what looked like stone. It was unusual for a lake, but she supposed this accounted for the clarity of the water and she was grateful. She hated not being able to see very far in water, fearing creatures of the deep ever since her brother was taken captive by mermaids as part of the Triwizard Tournament. It being only just autumn, the water looked quite enticing and Ginny was just wishing she had her swimsuit with her when Ember returned, carrying a bag.

"Where'd you go?" She demanded. Ember smiled her crooked smile.

"Worried about me? Aww, I feel so special," she said sarcastically.

"No, I just can't get out of here without you."

"The force field is one way. You could leave if you wanted."

"And go through the forest? I don't think so. Besides, I don't know which way the castle is."

Ember shoved a map into Ginny's hands. It was of the castle grounds. She prodded it with her wand. "We're here," she said, and a red circle appeared in the forest area. Ginny looked closely. A tiny black dot appeared, with the name words 'you are here' in the red circle. "That'll move with you. It shows where you are. Useful, no?"

Ginny fought to suppress her wonder. This was almost exactly the same concept as the Marauder's Map that Harry had. "That is very useful," she eventually said, and Ember smiled. "What's in the bag?"

"You want to be like me?" Ember asked. Ginny nodded. "Then we need to make some changes." She produced a tissue and wiped off Ginny's makeup.

"Hey!" Ginny said. "Don't do that!"

"It is a necessity," Ember replied softly, pulling a stick of eyeliner out of her bag. She swiped it along Ginny's eyes and in a matter of seconds, she whipped out a mirror and held it in front of Ginny's face. She gasped.

"That's… a pretty good job you've done. I look… nice…" Ginny said.

"Duh," replied Ember.

"Duh to a good job or that I look nice?" Ginny asked slyly. Ember shrugged as she turned to her bag, putting the items away.

"Whatever you want it to mean," she said quietly. Then she turned back to Ginny and tugged at her pink miniskirt. "What the hell is this?"

"A… a skirt?"

"No, it's an atrocity."

"An abortion of nature!" Ginny agreed enthusiastically. Ember stared at her.

"I think the word you're looking for is aberration," she corrected. Ginny blushed. "I knew what you meant anyway. We need to fix this."

"Erm… I don't mean to question your genius, but… how?"

Ember smiled again. "You'll know tomorrow."

-----

Ginny awoke the next day feeling very apprehensive of what was to come. She didn't know what Ember had meant by 'You'll know tomorrow", and was quite anxious to find out.

"Hogsmeade visit today!" Alicia cried, digging through her trunk for something to wear. She pulled out a sequined blue skirt. "How's this?"

"That skirt is an abortion of nature," said Phoebe, attempting to seem intelligent.

"The word is aberration," Ginny said impatiently. Phoebe stared at her.

"Since when did you get smart?"

"I've always been smart," Ginny said, trying to ignore the look of disbelief in the girl's eyes. She pulled out a pair of faded blue jeans and a white shirt. _Ember can't find anything wrong with this, can she?_ She figured. She was wrong. Once she and her friends arrived at Hogsmeade, Ginny saw Ember leaning against s shop front. She made her excuses to her friends and once they had turned the corner, went to talk to Ember.

"Ugh, white is such a gross shade," Ember said. "I hate wearing it." She herself was wearing a pair of leather pants under her big boots, with a black tank top featuring sparkling, dark red roses at the corner and a long black coat against the chill. After checking once to see if the coast was clear, she outstretched her wings. Rather than tearing her clothes, they seemed to just go right through them, so it looked as if the wings were attached to her coat rather than her back. She held Ginny around her waist and took off into the sky.

"Where are we going?" asked Ginny, her arms around Ember for fear of being dropped.

"London. We have to find you some nice new clothes, and I'm guessing nowhere in Hogsmeade sells Muggle attire," Ember muttered.

"But… London is so far away! We take hours to get there by train. We'll have a search party sent out for us!" Ginny cried, fearful.

"Then we need to take the speed up a notch or two," Ember said, and the leisurely pace they were flying at turned into a roaring, screaming flight where the ground rushed past below them and Ginny had to close her eyes to stop herself from throwing up. A few minutes later, Ginny felt an impact which told her that they had landed. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Diagon Alley! Already! That was amazing, Ember," Ginny cried in wonder. Ember turned her face to the ground, letting her long hair fall past her face to hide her blush. Then she felt a hand grab hers and yank her into a narrow alleyway between shops. She looked up and saw Ginny looking terrified, staring out into the street. "My parents!" She cried, pointing. "If they catch me here I'll be grounded for life!"

"Settle down," Ember said. "You worry way too much." And with that, she walked out into the street, dragging Ginny with her. "Don't make a scene," she whispered. "You'll attract attention that way. Just walk normally, and since their backs are facing us, they should have no reason to turn around and catch you out."

Ginny looked disbelieving, but tried to walk normally. It was only when they had left the Leaky Cauldron and stepped onto the cold London footpath that she noticeably relaxed. "Lovely," she said. "So where to now?"

"I dunno, I've never been here before," Ember said. Ginny stared at her.

"Even lovelier. Wait on, I've just had a thought. I've got no Muggle money, how are we supposed to pay for this stuff?" Ginny said suddenly.

"Settle down, crazy lady. I got all my funds transferred into the crazy British currency when I moved here."

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to buy me-"

"You didn't," was the reply. "Besides, since I moved here I've had nothing to spend my money on. I'm not going to just let it rot."

Relenting, Ginny followed Ember down the busy London street, wondering what antics they would get up to next.

-----

They walked back up to the castle at the end of their 'Hogsmeade visit', laden with shopping bags. Ginny had thrown her old jeans and shirt into a bag and was now wearing black jeans and a low cut black sleeveless top, with a long, darkest green coat. Ember had been rather enthusiastic about a dark red coat but it clashed horribly with Ginny's hair, so they had decided on the green. Ember waved Ginny away at the turnoff to the Ravenclaw section of the castle, feeling thoroughly content with the day's events. Even though she hated to admit it, she liked Ginny.

Ginny herself was walking up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, also thinking about how nicely her day with Ember had gone. _I seem to have gone up a rung in her opinion of me – I guess I'm 'tolerable' now_, she thought to herself, with a smile on her face. She said the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady who let her through, past a deserted common room and up the stairs to the seventh-year girls' dormitory. She walked into the dorm, only to see the other girls turn to stare at her incredulously.

"Ginny," said Alicia slowly. "What is that that you are wearing?"


	6. Dancing Naked with Snape

You will notice in this chapter I mention Snape as the Potions Master – I know that if I don't write this little note in then I'll get reviews saying "oh but Snape killed Dumbledore, they won't let him back in". I'm sure you've all heard the 'Snape is innocent' theories, which I happen to agree with. We assume for the purposes of this fic that he is innocent and cleared his name after the final battle (which has already taken place) and allowed to return to his teaching post. I wouldn't have written him in as Potions Master if I didn't have to – his attitude is what I needed for that particular section of text.

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Ginny stood stock-still in the middle of the dormitory, her new dark clothes apparently not going down well with her dorm-buddies. A raven shrieked in the distance. This seemed to give one of the girls leave to break the silence. "Well, Ginny?" said Steph, with wary eyes. "Alicia asked you a question. What do you mean by those clothes? Are you going to a fancy-dress party?"

"No," Ginny said, unable to think of a more eloquent answer.

"What do you mean by it, Ginny?" echoed Phoebe, cocking her head. "You look like that freak, Ember."

"I know," Ginny said, still unable to think of an answer. "Well… I've been thinking lately, well, I've been thinking for a long time… I don't think that who I was before, is really… I don't know how to put this… I think that who I was wasn't me. This is me."

All three girls looked confused. "I don't get it," Alicia said. "What you just said made no sense. You're not you?"

"I wasn't me…" Ginny said, sitting on her bed and running her hands through her fiery red hair. "I think this is me now."

A heavy silence fell over the dormitory. After a second or two, Phoebe piped up. "So you're some sort of gothy freak now? Is that it?"

"I'm not a gothy freak, Phoebe. I'm just not like you anymore," Ginny replied wearily, laying back on her bed. "If we're going to get along you guys need to accept that." This solicited a bark of laughter from Steph.

"You think we want anything to do with you now? Ha!" She shrieked, pointing a long-nailed finger accusingly at Ginny. "You can forget about it, freak!"

"Don't call me that," Ginny said. "And you are speaking on behalf of everyone. You don't know that's what they want."

"It's what I want," said Alicia, giving Ginny a poisonous glare. Phoebe nodded in agreement. "We all think you're a freak."

At that moment, something snapped in Ginny – seven years of holding in her emotions were destroyed by pure, unsullied anger. "Don't call me that!" Ginny shouted, causing the girls to go quiet but carry on glaring evilly at her. "You're such a bitch, Alicia. You think you can get away with being horrible to everyone but the truth is, everyone in school hates you. You're just too stuck up and overblown to realise."

"Hey, that's mean…" Phoebe started, rushing to her friend's defence. Ginny rounded on her.

"And you? You're an idiot! You try to make everyone think you're intelligent but we all know you're so stupid, you couldn't string two words together. What are you going to do after Hogwarts? The only thing you're good at is pouting and getting other people to do your work for you," she ranted, not caring who she offended anymore. Then she stared directly at Steph. "And you…" she narrowed her eyes. "I loathe you more than you will ever know. What boy in this school _haven't _you slept with? Is it some kind of psychological issue with you? Every boy I told you I liked, you went and slept with him and then dumped him after a day."

Steph stared in horror, mouth agape. "Ginny! You are such a bitch! I can't believe you're saying this!"

"Oh, shut your mouth, for once in your life," Ginny said. "I couldn't care less what you think of me anymore. I wouldn't hang out with you guys now if you paid me. Goodnight."

And with that, she waved her wand. The lights went out and she crawled into bed, not even bothering with changing into her pajamas. She heard whispering from the other side of the room, and her fists clenched. "_Shutup!_" She cried, and the voices stopped and she heard feet pattering around the room, then bed springs creaking as the girls returned to their respective beds. "And for the record, Steph," Ginny said loudly to the darkness, "kissing girls when you're blind drunk does _not_ make you bisexual."

-----

Ember awoke to the morning sunlight shining on her eyes, and squinted, holding an arm up to shield her face. She groaned as she heard the shower running and sat up wearily, wondering how long her dorm-mate would be. She grabbed her wand from the bedside table and waved it haphazardly, trying to cause a mug of coffee to appear on her bedside table. She stared at it. It was clear, boiling water. She groaned. Her magic was always off-centre when she was half-asleep. She pointed her wand at the mug. It instantly turned brown and Ember smiled. She picked it up and took a sip before spitting it out in disgust. "Decaf?" She cried. "What the hell is the point of that?" She pointed her wand at the mug again and it churned and boiled, which Ember took as a good sign. She raised it again, but it did not stop churning. She stared at it. It stirred and thickened, until it hardened in the mug. Ember was close to tears, as she was tired and her morning coffee was not cooperating. She turned the mug upside down. A hard, brown block slipped out onto her hand, and she licked it unhappily.

Half an hour later, Ember's coffee cylinder had been devoured and she was showered and ready for the day, whatever it decided to bring. She had decided to wave her short black hair and it was in loose curls around her face. Her green side-fringe, however, remained poker-straight and swept across one of her violet eyes. She was wearing a short black short-sleeved button up dress with black armwarmers over a pair of camouflage-printed pants, which she wore under a set of heavy black combat boots. She swiped eyeliner around her eyes and padded down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. She enjoyed the fact that it was a Sunday and she didn't have classes – she was good at her classwork, but it bored her to tears. She preferred doodling random sketches on parchment or writing poetry instead of paying attention. There were several slips of parchment in her black satchel that were adorned with art and poetry, parchment she had haphazardly shoved in there after classes were excused.

She could not, however, engage in these activities in Potions class – Snape was always breathing down her neck, checking to see if she was doing it properly. He had been suspicious of her previous Potions education at her old school, and had been monitoring her work. However, she had proven herself more than worthy, excelling in all the potions he set for her. This had not dampened his resolve to prove that he was the greatest Potions Master in the known universe, and he had continuously looked down his nose at her, making snide comments about her previous education and attempting to find fault in every potion she concocted. She usually just smiled at him as though she had not heard his comments, but on one occasion she saw fit to talk back to him.

"Your Draught of Dreamless Sleep is very weak," he had said, looking down at her and her potion. It was not her best work, she inwardly admitted, but it was not as bad as the other students'. "You have concocted this potion before, I believe? Why is your potion so inferior, Miss Cree?"

"Well, you see, Professor," she said brightly, "at my old school we strengthened our potions by dancing naked around them in the moonlight. Would you like me to do that? You would have to supervise, of course."

The professor had reddened, and stared at her disbelievingly. But her wide smile and innocent eyes did not falter, and so he turned away and stalked back to his desk. He had not bothered her after that incident. Ember chuckled at the memory of it. That had been a good day.

She entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table, surveying what was on offer. It was either scrambled eggs, sausages, or porridge. Having a deep loathing for eggs and sausages, she ladled porridge into her bowl, saying loudly, "porridge, porridge, porridge". She poured milk on and piled the porridge high with honey and brown sugar. She ate quickly, her loud comments about her food alerting many Ravenclaws to the fact that 'that weird new girl' was there and that she was unpredictable. She didn't want to scare people too much – she just wanted to eat her porridge and perhaps state that she was eating porridge for the benefit of anyone who was listening. After her bowl was empty, she patted her stomach. "I am full of porridge," she said happily, and stood up, leaving the Great Hall. She was feeling quite pleasant, walking back towards the Ravenclaw dorm room in the cool October morning. This was until she ran into Ginny near a statue of a wizard with no teeth and only one eye.

"Hi, Gin-Gin," Ember said brightly. She didn't feel like being sarcastic, she was feeling too happy. However, this mood was soon altered by Ginny throwing her arms around Ember, bursting into tears. "Gosh, Gin, I'll be a bitch if you want…" she said, bewildered. Ginny shook her head and sobbed louder on Ember's shoulder. "Um… you look nice today? Your outfit is really… nice?"

"Oh, Ember, it's not that," Ginny said, wiping her face. "I got into a fight with my friends – well, I guess they were never really my friends – point is, they hate me now, and I don't know what I'm going to do…" she let out fresh wails. Ember pulled Ginny closer and hugged her, patting her hair in what she hoped was a comforting manner.

"Shh… it's okay, Gin," Ember said, trying to sound soothing. "You've still got me, haven't you? You'll always have me."

Ginny raised her head and looked into Ember's violet eyes. Her own eyes were red from crying and black trails of mascara had made lines down her cheeks. "You mean you don't hate me anymore? You like me?"

"Yeah, sure, I like you…" Ember said, and felt blood rush to her face. _Why am I blushing?_ She wondered. "You're better off without those bitches. They're not very nice people."

"You're nice, though, Ember," Ginny said, stroking Ember's hair. "You're a lovely girl. I'm glad we're friends." She wiped her eyes and let out a noise that was half-laughing, half-sobbing. "I like you too, you know. You're nice."

"You already said that, Gin," Ember said, feeling her cheeks burn even more furiously. She saw Ginny's cheeks redden too and was even more perplexed. _Is blushing the new trend?_ She wondered. Of course, she knew deep down why she was blushing. She found Ginny to be a very beautiful girl, and quite nice, in her own way. Suddenly, she realised what she had known all along – _great, I finally make a friend in this place and I have to go and fall in love with her…_ she thought, her heart sinking. She kept the smile firmly plastered to her face, though, and only let it falter when Ginny hugged her again.

-----

Romilda Vane, a sixth-year, was walking down to breakfast alone, her shower having taken longer than usual. She pondered the gossip her friends had brought her that morning. Word was, Ginny Weasley had turned Goth and had been forcibly ejected from her group of friends. Apparently, the exchange had only just happened the previous night. She had to hand it to her friends – they were fantastic at gathering gossip for her. She was planning on being the next queen bee of Hogwarts once she entered seventh year and those pesky seventh-year Gryffindor girls were gone. She had wanted Phoebe's power over boys, Alicia's wit, Ginny's style and Steph's beauty. Now that Ginny was ousted from the group, Romilda would have to find another girl to model her clothes upon. But this would be a simple task. What she needed now was some more gossip to spread. Hearing the shrieking cries of a girl, she quickly ducked behind a statue and peeked out to see what she was about to spy on.

"This is going to be so good…" Romilda whispered to herself, a cruel smile playing across her face. She watched as Ginny Weasley clutched the dark-haired Ember Cree close to her. The redhead was clearly crying, and Romilda smiled as she saw Ember stroking Ginny's hair. She heard snatches of speech from Ember.

"…Have me… always have me…" she heard, and her smile widened. Then she saw Ginny stroke Ember's hair and the two girls blushed. Romilda had to fight not to whoop in joy.

"Better and better," Romilda whispered. Then she stared, eyes wide. The two girls were standing very close to each other, she noted. "Oh man, I hope they don't start making out, gross," Romilda whispered in disgust. But her fears were put to rest when Ginny merely brought Ember back in for another tight hug. "This is the most sensational piece of gossip I have ever been privy to," she whispered, "and I'm the only one that knows their secret. Not for long, however…"


	7. Artery

Ember and Ginny broke their close hug and Ginny laughed, wiping her cheeks. Her eyes were still red, though, to match her flaming hair.

"I should go eat some breakfast or something," Ginny said, wiping her wet hands on her skirt. Ember put a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want me to go with you?" She asked. "I've already eaten, but if you want…"

"No, that's okay," Ginny replied, smiling at Ember. "I'll just go by myself. Maybe see you a bit later." Ember nodded kindly and continued on her way to the Ravenclaw common room, thinking of perhaps drawing or writing something to fill in her Sunday. She was thinking so hard about her new friend that she barely noticed where she was going and walked right into the Ravenclaw common room tapestry. Cursing her stupidity and rubbing her sore nose, she said the password and walked up to her dormitory. It looked absolutely beautiful in the morning light, and Ember relished having the dormitory to herself for at least a few hours while the other girls were at Sunday morning Quidditch practice. It was a well-known fact that after Quidditch practice, the seventh-year Ravenclaw girls went off to unnamed locations with unnamed boys, and Ember enjoyed the fact that her roommates had questionable morals as it gave her more time alone.

"I can do whatever I want…" she muttered to herself. "What do I want to do?"

Ten minutes later, she was feeling very pleased with herself and the way her Sunday was turning out. Being incredibly skilled in her magical ability for her age, she had conjured an easel, a canvas, and fetched her paints and brushes from the drawer in her bedside table. She had locked the drawer with an essence charm, which meant that nobody else could open it, but she could open it simply by touching the lock with a finger. She sat on her bed and positioned the easel next to her bedside table, and prepared for an enjoyable morning of painting. A lit cigarette attached to a long, black, old-fashioned cigarette holder was idling in an ashtray, smoking slightly at the end, and a glass filled with what appeared at first glance to be clear soda was sitting on the bedside table next to open bottles of vodka and lemonade.

She wasn't really the type to drink on a Sunday morning, but it certainly got her creative juices flowing, so to speak, and she always stopped before the effects of the alcohol were noticeable. Savoring the purity of the unsullied white canvas for a moment, she applied the first brushstroke – a line of deep, fiery red. She smiled as she thought fondly of her subject matter. Taking a long drag of her cigarette, she blew the smoke out in a long, transparent line in front of her.

Three hours later, she admired her painting with pride. It was not a finished piece by any means, and she knew she needed to do a lot more work on it before she would be satisfied, she was fairly happy with it. It featured a self-portrait of herself in the night sky, stars twinkling behind her and city lights visible beneath her. She was doing a mid-air dance with Ginny, who Ember had taken artistic license with and given large, feathery black wings. The painting was unmoving, as it was unfinished, and it was incredibly rare that the moving charm would be added before a piece of artwork was completed. Ember smiled, thinking of how it would look once she had applied the charm. She suspected that the pair of girls would flit about each other in the sky, dancing as she had visualized.

Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs to the dormitory and quickly shoved the canvas underneath her bed and vanished the easel, but she was not quick enough to hide her cigarettes or alcohol. The door swung open to admit one of her roommates, who burst in, giggling. She stared at Ember, who was standing in front of her bedside table, shielding it from view. She was screwing the lids onto the bottles behind her back and hoping her roommate didn't notice when the blonde girl suddenly turned her head sharply towards Ember.

"What're you doing?"

"Nothing," Ember said quickly, feeling her way towards the still-lit cigarette and hoping she wouldn't burn herself in the process. Finding it safely, she put it out and swept her cigarettes and alcohol into the drawer, slamming it shut.

"You're doing something! What are you doing with that drawer?" She demanded, shoving Ember aside and yanking on the drawer, which stuck fast. "Why can't I open this?"

"Locked," Ember said simply. She looked at her watch, which read 12.34. "Listen – I'm going to lunch. You won't be able to open that lock, so don't bother trying. I bet you'd love to be able to though – you'd love what's inside." She was lying, of course, to annoy the cruel, preppy girl, but the look on the girl's face was too good to miss. Happy again, Ember walked down to the Great Hall for lunch, but was stopped halfway down by the very person who had been adorning her thoughts – Ginny Weasley. She looked just as traumatized as before, but Ember reasoned that she couldn't possibly still be upset.

"Ember!" Ginny said, and Ember put an arm around her shoulders and led her outside. Once they were sitting under a tree overlooking the lake, Ginny started to speak again. "It's Romilda Vane. She's had it in for me ever since I dated Harry Potter."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about people like her," Ember waved a hand dismissively. She found her speech slurring ever so slightly and wondered if she had misjudged the amount she had drunk. "She's just jealous."

"I know," Ginny said quickly, and seemed to cheer up slightly. "She was all over Harry last year, even tried to give him drugged chocolates. I don't know why he didn't report her, but I guess he had a lot on his mind. She didn't even properly like him – she just liked the power he had. Of course, he never wanted any of it… but Romilda wants to be the most popular girl in school and she saw Harry as the way to get there…"

Ember stroked Ginny's hair comfortingly. "It's okay, Gin-Gin. What's she done now?"

Ginny laughed. "Oh, it's really stupid; she's got to be clutching at straws. I don't even know why she's making this stuff up, it's not like I can get any lower, socially speaking."

"Gin, what's she said?" Ember asked, more firmly this time. Ginny looked up at Ember, an incredulous smile on her face.

"She's said that we're going out," Ginny said, laughing slightly. Ember stayed silent. She ached to tell Ginny how she felt but feared her friend's reaction. "So stupid, right? As if."

"Is it, Ginny?" Ember blurted out. "Is it so stupid?"

"Well… yeah, of course!" Ginny said. An uncomfortable silence fell over the pair. "E – Ember?"

Ember didn't reply. She simply removed her arm from around Ginny's shoulders and walked back towards the castle, neither slowly nor hurriedly. Ginny would have followed her, but she was too stunned. All she could do was to remain sitting under the tree, gaping after her friend's retreating back.


	8. Freeze

Ember lay under the stars in the clearing she had created for herself and Ginny. It was freezing, but she had no cloak. She was dressed in a long-sleeved black hooded top and a pair of black jeans, but barely noticed the cold creeping into her skin. Her breath rose above her in a vertical vapor line, and Ember wondered if it looked like that going into her lungs. She hoped not. She enjoyed breathing cold air – warm air was nearly unbreathable to her. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, savouring the fresh air. Soon, she would be back in the castle, where everything reeked of rising damp or the stench of potions gone wrong. She had lay under the stars in the clearing every night since she and Ginny had had their falling out. She always tried to stay up the whole night but always ended up falling asleep. It was wishful thinking, as she chastised herself constantly, but she figured that if Ginny wanted to reconcile then she would come here and Ember did not want to take the risk of not being there when Ginny did come. _If,_ she thought to herself harshly. _IF she comes. Which she won't. Why would she? _A single tear trickled down Ember's temple and came to rest in her dark hair.

-----

Ginny rose early that Saturday morning and crept out of the dormitory before the other girls had a chance to make any cracks at her expense. As she walked down the stairs to the portrait hole, she sighed, remembering the way Ember had left her the other day. _Why did I say it was so stupid?_ Ginny asked herself for the five millionth time, smacking her own forehead with the heel of her palm. _Why? Why was I so scared to tell Ember the truth about what I felt for her… when she obviously felt the same way?_ She walked down a spiraling staircase on the way to the library, clenching her jaw shut in anger at herself. _I've already admitted my true self. Why should this be any harder?_ _Who am I kidding, it is harder. It's a thousand times harder to tell someone you love them than to change the way you dress._

Reaching the door of the library, she entered and made a beeline for the nearest corner, ready to sit down and not move for hours on end. It turned out that she got sick of wallowing in her own self-loathing in about ten minutes, and pulled out a book from the shelf at eye level. Opening it to page one, she started to read. _Get my mind off things_, she thought.

"Potions which require firepower are not as difficult as many people think. One can spend hours fetching ingredients to make it burn, when all they really need is a few embers from the fire beneath your cauldron…" the words were written on the page, clear as day, but no words entered Ginny's mind, save one. _Embers… embers… ember… Ember. Ember. Ember…_

Ginny drew a quill from the pocket of her cloak and, not really noticing what she was doing, underlined the word 'embers' with some residual ink from Friday night's Astronomy lesson. Then, she traced the line. Scratching back along the line she had made, she was dimly aware of the fact that her quill was out of ink, but she kept tracing the line she had made, scratching at the parchment, back and forth, back and forth. By the time she had made a decent-sized dent in the book, the strict librarian, Madam Pince, had cottoned on to what she was doing and had swooped down angrily upon the young girl.

"Vandal! How – how _dare_ you destroy a book like this? School property, no less! Out of the library! Get _out!_" And she took Ginny by the elbow and dragged her along towards the doorway, Ginny's legs moving of their own accord as she obediently and silently followed the raging librarian. Once she had been shoved roughly out of the library, Ginny stood in the middle of the corridor, staring unseeingly for a few minutes. A loud _thud_ of a book falling behind her brought her partially out of her reverie and she started walking unconsciously, to where, she didn't know.

She supposed she must have been walking for around half an hour when her mind was suddenly, blissfully clear and her heart leapt into her throat. Her stomach turned upside-down and her inner Ginny was leaping up and down, squealing with joy. Ember was walking towards her. At this moment, Ginny realised that she was just about to enter the Potions classroom, and the NEWT class had just been dismissed.

Ginny smiled as Ember walked towards her, with an expression on her face, Ginny observed, much like the one Ember assumed when she was about to give Ginny a huge hug. Ginny smiled at Ember and braced herself for the spear-tackle which was sure to come, but it never did. Ember walked deliberately past Ginny, and Ginny could've sworn she felt an icy breeze following Ember at the sight of her. Ginny turned around and saw that Ember had only been giving her hug-look to the "Wash all cauldrons before you leave" sign on the door behind her. She sighed and walked the familiar path back to Gryffindor Tower, knowing that anything, even her ex-friends' taunts, was better than the way Ember made her feel at that moment.

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Authoress' Note: Sorry about the short chapter. It's really just filler in preparation for FINALCHAPTEROMG which is next chapter. Aren't you all so excited? I am. Will Ember talk to Ginny? Will Ginny confess her feelings? Will they live happily ever after or will they both simply spiral into a bottomless pit of horrible, horrible despair? Knowing my penchant for tragic endings, all signs point to the latter. But you never know – you might get a happy ending out of me yet ;)


	9. Final Chapter Insane

Oh my God, I am so sorry. I made you guys wait forever for the last chapter. Truth is, I thought I'd posted it, but when I went to upload my latest fic I saw that there was this chapter just sitting in the document area, WAITING. I was all :O

Okay, last chapter. I hope you like it. For the full effect, listen to Zero by Smashing Pumpkins while reading. It was playing in my mind as I was writing this.

Warning: fluff. Oh, the fluff.

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Ember lay under a blanket in the clearing that she had found with Ginny. Her right arm was around the smaller redhead's shoulders and they had their heads propped up on pillows to prevent neck aches. The sky was inky black, dotted with stars and a huge full moon to the lower left of the sky. The trees whispered with wind all around them and, in the distance, a crow shrieked. The only emotion flooding Ember's mind was happiness. Pure, unsullied happiness to be with the one she loved so dearly. Ginny's pale, freckled skin seemed to give off an unearthly glow in the blue moonshine, and her hair seemed as liquid and flowing as fresh blood.

"I can't believe you _walked_ through the middle of the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, Gin-Gin," Ember said, still in shock at what her beloved had done.

"I had to," Ginny replied. "I love you, remember?"

"No, I don't remember, you've only said it about six hundred times in the past hour. Say it again, though."

"I love you."

Ember pulled Ginny closer and kissed the redhead on her pale forehead. Ginny had done what was generally assumed to be suicidal – with no wings to take her to the clearing, she had fought her way through, pure emotion giving her spells the force they needed to take out most wicked creatures that lived in the forest. However, there had been a particularly hungry werewolf after her, and she had only escaped narrowly. Reaching the clearing, she was knocked back by the forcefield. Tears beginning to stream down her face, she had peered inside to see if Ember was there. She was. She had pummelled the walls of the forcefield, her fists starting to tear and bleed. Tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"Ember!" She had called, but the girl didn't seem to hear. Ginny had heard a twig snapping not too far off. Soon the werewolf would catch up. _Ember_… she reached out desperately in her mind. The girl in the forcefield seemed to go rigid for a moment, then turned with blazing eyes to see Ginny attempting to beat down the forcefield. She ran so fast it was almost as if the wind had known her cause and was helping her along. Ginny had turned to see a huge werewolf bearing down on her, hunger in its eyes. A hand had grabbed Ginny's arm, and she had turned around to see Ember yanking Ginny into the forcefield a split-second before the werewolf threw itself against the forcefield, scowling and yelping as its force started to tear the skin.

"I didn't think you'd actually come here, Ginny," Ember had said, astonished. "Why'd you do it, it was a really stupid thing to do." But she was crying too, crying and laughing.

"Because I have to say… I love you, Ember. I always did."

Under the stars, Ginny sat up abruptly and Ember's arm fell uselessly to her side as she sat up too.

"Look at your rose," Ginny said. Ember looked down to her left arm and saw that the last petal was about to fall from the flower. As they watched, it dropped and floated slowly down to where the other petals had fallen just below the rose, and the dead petals vanished. The greying tip of the stem turned into a lush green bud, and the huge, lethally sharp-looking thorns shrunk and became like tiny hairs on the stem.

"Beautiful," Ginny said, leaning down to kiss the baby rose tattoo.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Ember asked, an amused tone in her voice, dipping her head to kiss Ginny in return. Tears sprung forth into Ember's eyes and Ginny watched her, concerned.

"What's wrong, Em?" Ember sniffed and dabbed her eye with a long sleeve.

"I just… I can't believe you came through the forest. It was stupid."

"No, it wasn't," Ginny said sternly, her eyes blazing. "It was one of the few times in my life where I was thinking clearly. Everything was in perfect clarity for me. Nothing had ever made sense until I met you. Now I know, you are my only one."

Ember clutched the redhead tightly to her chest and sniffed again, laughing slightly. "I agree," she muttered into the girl's ear. "Nothing makes as much sense as me and you."

"And nothing ever will," Ginny replied. "When you stopped talking to me, I think most of my brain froze up. It was punishing me for letting you go." One star twinkled extra-brightly as Ember smiled broadly, touching Ginny's cheek with her fingertips. "And it only un-froze when you pulled me through the forcefield. Everything I did in the forest came from the one part of my brain that was left wide-awake – the part that is insanely in love with you."

"Well, I'd never be in that mess," said Ember, smiling. "_All_ my brain is in love with you. Insanely."

Clouds floated across the sky as the pair lay back on the pillows and drew the blanket up to their chins. An owl flew overhead with a letter clasped in its claws. All the stars were completely obscured. The moon was but a faint white glow behind a cloud.

"Looks like rain," Ember observed.

"Nah," Ginny said, then as if on cue, the heavens opened up and rain poured down. Ember laughed as the rain slid in sheets over the forcefield and pooled around the outside of the limits of the field.

"I _still_ can't believe you came through the Forbidden Forest to see me," Ember said, gazing in happy wonder at the redhead.

"Lesson one," Ginny said, sounding oddly like Ember when she had first started to instruct Ginny. "Forbidden really means 'go for it'."

Ember stuck her tongue out. "Trust a sneaky lady like you to twist around my words and –"

"Twist your words?" Ginny laughed. "That was _exactly_ as you said it, Miss Oh-So-Rebellious."

"Hey! I never said I was oh-so-rebellious!"

"Oh, calm down, I was just kidding around," Ginny said, kissing Ember on the temple. Ember screwed up her nose at Ginny.

"Good. Now, here's a little pop quiz. Who do you love?"

"You, silly."

"How much?"

"Insanely."

Ember beamed. "I see you've been studying hard, Gin-Gin. The prize is… me!"

"Aww!" Ginny pretended to be disappointed. "I already had you."

"Fine, I'll take away your lovely prize. You don't have me anymore, now what are you going to do?"

Ginny pouted. "Ember! I was kidding!"

"I know, Gin," Ember said, running a hand over the redhead's hair and kissing her on the forehead. "I love you too. Insanely."


End file.
